Job Program - Learning Through Leading

Our students play a fundamental role in the daily well-being of the school from the first week they arrive. Our system of school government is created on the premise that our students can manage the day-to-day running of the school. In a unique balloting system that has existed at Holderness for over fifty years, student leaders are selected by their peers on the basis of four values: fairness, dependability, initiative, and caring. These leaders are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Job Program, as well as many other responsibilities.

Every student has a job that is meaningful and builds useful skills, and the job descriptions cater to a diverse set of interests. Students work on grounds crews, give Admission tours, serve as dinner stewards, organize community service, lead campus sustainability and recycling efforts, build community as house and floor leaders, and even raise the flag every morning.

Punctuality, following through, self-reliance, common sense, dependability, responsibility, initiative, and investment in the community are just some of the skills they learn. We’ve heard from many of our alumni that entry-level management jobs are a breeze because of the skills they learned in the Job Program.